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"It’s a necessaryWas that an invitation?"

"Yes I’ to the store What do you like?"

"I’ll tell you what We’ll head out soht You can make use of all your culinary skills to that I had any," she said, s

"Ah, well, that’s to be seen, then, hmm?" he said "I’ll be around so serious happens at night," he added

She s over see back was easy The property was just as it had been The house seemed like home Even as cluttered and dusty as it had become Her mother had died here, but before she had died, there had been rand parlor when it had been all decked out for Christone all the way There had been ornaments on the antlers of the mounted animal heads on the walls, and the mantel had been streith decorations, frohts in ait a beacon in the night

"I’ll see you soon, then," she said softly

They said goodbye and clicked off Kelsey decided to put her call through to Joe Richter and then decide whether to shop first or drive out to see hi, she left her list on the table, walked to the fa but the endless horizon The sky was a beautiful blue; the ocean was cal

As she stood there, though, she thought that she s unpleasant

Death It was the sone with a whisper of the breeze She shook her head and winced Cutter had died inside She didn’t smell it inside Whoever had been there had cleared the house of the smell

Liam had probably seen to it

Her heart see sucked back into the past far too quickly

Determined, she turned around and headed back inside

The phone call to Joe Richter put the day in order; she’d stop by to see hi

But when she stepped out of the house to drive to the lawyer’s office, she was struck again by a strange and haunting scent on the air

Death

It was in her ht It had to be

Franklin Valaski was in the ue His receptionist, Lizzie S as Franklin Between the and longevity, except that Liale-ed in cigars

So

Katie had always said that the old folks fro fluids for so long that they were alive and well and preserved Since everyone liked both Franklin and Lizzie, it was a good thing

"Lieutenant, what can I do for you today?" Franklin asked, coloves, but he still wore his ht have been the mad professor from a movie about aliens

"Hey, Franklin," Liam said "Who is on the table? Anyone I should know about?"

Franklin shook his head "No, thank the good Lord above! No young traffic fatality or victih, of course, by law, since Mrs Annie Merriweather died alone in her trailer by the sea, I a the state that she indeed died a natural death Alas, good Annie produced three children, outlived all of therandchildren ere not present when she expired in front of her television Annie recently turned one hundred and one, and indeed the autopsy has proven that she expired when her dear old heart gave out probably while she was dozing through an episode of Jeopardy What can I do for you?"

"I just thought I’d stop by I know that you ruled Cutter Merlin’s death as natural, but I was still curious You commented about his expression And you said that you’d seen it before on his daughter’s face You didn’t find anything out of the ordinary during the autopsy, did you?" Liam asked